The AVI-R2: an inventory for a differentiated diagnosis of alcohol problems

Often in clinical practice, a diagnosis of alcohol dependence or abuse does not provide enough information to establish an adequate treatment plan. Hence, multidimensional instruments have been constructed better to describe the extent and character of a patient's alcohol problem. The purpose of the current article is to present the AVI-R2, a self-report test that provides a standardized and differentiated description of an ongoing drinking problem. The instrument includes 81 items categorized into 16 primary scales that were further summarized into four secondary scales: alcohol dependence, psychological benefits, relational complications and multiple dependence. The article provides reference values and psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the test. Data were based on 270 alcoholic patients recruited from the Centre for Dependency Disorders in Stockholm. Except for one primary scale (social complications due to drinking), the psychometric properties of the test were satisfactory. Recommendations on when and how the test can be used were also provided.